In previous blog posts, I’ve focused on how the syntax databases we offer are used when searching, when asking questions of the text. But this is not the only use. I don’t even know if it will end up being the primary use. I was reminded about this with a recent comment on one of my posts:

These blogs are extremely helpful for things like [structure searching], but make it difficult for an average joe like me to get a search result and have confidence that all the cases of what I’m looking for would be covered. . .I’d think “what kind of clause component will this show up in that I’ll miss with this search”. Certainly, I’ll get some results I’d want, but will I get them all?

Instead of focusing more on searching, I figured I’d step back and show another use that doesn’t require any searching knowledge at all. Just being able to see the structure of the text in a different way is helpful when reading through the text.

We read through the text in translations with paragraphs/etc frequently. Reading through a syntax graph in addition to reading the text in modern translation can help us slow down when we read, and take note of not simply each word but also the things going on around each word at the clause level.

Ephesians 5.18b-21 offers a good example. I’ll give you two hints: Look only at the clauses (primary and embedded) and the verbs in those clauses, and the relationship between these things. No searching necessary. Just reading slowly paying attention to the annotated syntax.

And there’s a video (Flash, 3 megs, with sound) that provides a little more information to help in seeing how this can be done.

Here’s Eph 5.18b-21 in the ESV, just plain text. Read it in this form and try to think about the underlying structure of the text:

18 And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, 19 addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with all your heart, 20 giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, 21 submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ. (Eph 5.18-21, ESV)

What can we see from just looking at the syntax here? Check out the video for more explanation, but in short, you’ll see how to:

View only clause information in your graph, removing some of the word group annotation since we’re just looking at clause level data here

Find verbs in the annotation

Show why this is relevant when looking at the annotation for Ephesians 5.18b-21 (which is a whole primary clause)

Update: If you’re interested in using the Lexham Syntactic Greek New Testament to assist as you’re reading through the text, check out this post from May 2006. It’s a handy way to work through the Greek text of, say, First John and beef up your knowledge of the syntactic goings-on at the same time!

This is the sixth post in my on-going series on the Bible Word Study (BWS) report.
This post will look into the Lemma Report sections of the BWS report.

To refresh our collective memories, we’re looking at 1Th 2.16. Here it is in the reverse interlinear, with the phrase in question marked up using new Visual Markup features.

The Lemma Report sections have to do with understanding how the study word (ἀναπληρόω) is used both inside of the Greek New Testament and in other Greek literature, like the LXX (Greek Old Testament) and the Works of Philo.

In May, Guillermo and Rob of the Spanish department hit the road with Logos 3. First stop was Expolit in Miami, which is the largest book fair for Spanish language Christian literature in the world. This was a great time to develop our network of international distributors, connect with individual customers and publishers and sample some of the tasty restaurants of Miami (in that order, of course). The world of Spanish Christian literature is growing at an incredible pace and it is exciting to be part of it all.

After Expolit they split up. Guillermo traveled to Lima, Perú, to participate in the “Excellence in Training” conference organized by Overseas Council International. The conference aimed at strengthening the leadership of Spanish seminaries. Attendees were presidents and deans of seminaries from 17 different countries. Logos presented the tools and resources that students and faculty have available in their language and also proposed the development of new resources for the study of the Hebrew language. Logos is excited to partner with experienced and knowledgeable experts in Latin America to facilitate this development. More to come on that in the near future. A rather interesting side trip was a visit to “El Hueco”, the piracy mall of Peru. Here the visitor can buy a pirated copy of anything, including newly released DVD movies complete with plastic case and picture insert for US $0.50! Fortunately there was no Libronix on display (and no, he didn’t buy anything, tempting as it was).Meanwhile, Rob had already boarded a plane to Spain right after Expolit. There he hooked up with Jon Haley, a great supporter of Logos, to put on some presentations and training. Jon uses our Biblioteca de Estudio Bíblico in the distance ed school for Spaniards that he started last year. The response to our presentations was enthusiastic and it showed us that Spain is bound to be a growing market. It’s also a fun place to visit! Rob drove by too many castles to keep track of and also visited the Church of the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, a famous architectural marvel that has been under construction for over 80 years. The trip to Barcelona also provided an opportunity to visit our publishing partner Clie, which is the largest Christian publisher in the Spanish world.

It’s been a while since my last post, but we haven’t gone far! For the last ten days we’ve been sweltering across Texas, stopping to stun serious Bible students with this stupendous software. Seriously, it’s been a super time! As we leave today to head into other states for the last week of our 5 week leg, let’s catch you up on the stops around the “Lone Star” State.

We started in Dallas a weekend ago at St John’s Missionary Baptist Church and Denton Bible Church. It was great to see a good turnout from two churches in the same city. I’m thankful to see our prayers answered in that these events are appealing citywide (and further!).

This proved to be a very special stop as we had some distinguished guests (at least in Logos lore) in attendance. Nicole Dossey, a former Academic Sales Manager, lives in Austin where her husband (a former Logos developer) now works. Nicole was the person who helped me get my job at Logos and it was great to have her in attendance.

Also there were Bradley and Susan Grainger; two employees at Logos who just happened to be on vacation visiting the Dosseys. Bradley is one of our software developers and it was nice to watch him soak in the great response we had from the crowd there who was amazed (like all our other groups!) with what a light-year leap we have taken with Logos 3. It must have been neat to get that type of perspective on his work helping to develop these tools (for people like you and me) to study God’s Word more effectively.

On Tuesday, we stopped in San Antonio, where we took in some hometown Texas cooking at Bill Miller’s BBQ. We enjoyed the brisket and beans, sweet tea (served in a bucket, of course!), and a slice of pecan pie (my favorite!). The day off on Wednesday afforded us a rare opportunity to relax and we spent some time at the pool at Blazing Star RV park.

Thursday and Friday night we had churches in Houston welcome the Bible Road Trip as we stopped at Impact Church of Christ and West Houston Bible Church.Dr. Robert Dean, Jr is the pastor at West Houston. I spent most of Friday with him and members of his Logos users ministerial association, training and teaching them how to use some of the 100 new features of Logos 3. That day, the members of his church came out in droves and helped with refreshments and other things to make that night one of the most successful nights of the Road Trip with over 75 people in attendance!

So Texas, I guess it’s so long, partner! And as they say, “y’all come back now, y’ hear”?

From here, we head out to Louisiana, Arkansas, and Tennessee where we will hand off the RV to Scott Lindsey and his family after an 11-state, 17-city, and 4,800-mile leg of this awesome endeavor for His glory.

If you live in one of these states, RSVP for an event this week and bring along a friend to introduce them to this amazing tool. And if you see the RV, be sure to wave!

I’d like to search for every instance of the construction in Heb 1:2 — ἐν υἱῷ – i.e. ἐν followed by noun without article … Also (I think) in 1 Thess 1:5 – ἐν λόγῳ — our gospel did not come to you not simply “by means of word\speech”

I could do a normal search, but is this a category of construction that I could find with a syntax search? If so, could someone perhaps suggest how to go about it?

The answer is a resounding “YES!” It was like a slow-pitch softball that I couldn’t resist swinging at. So I did. You can watch the video now (Flash, 9 megs, with sound) but be sure to read the rest of the post too.

I should note that I’m running 3.0a beta 2, and you may see some visual changes inside of the Syntax Search Dialog.

“There are many Bible research programs available today and each one has its own strengths and weaknesses. One of the tremendous strengths of the Logos products is the incredible number of reference works available either in a package like this one or in separate products that can be added to one’s library. No other program comes close to providing us with so much valuable (and searchable) material. Anyone who spends much of their life studying, teaching and preaching the Bible will want to have this program or one of its sisters (the Scholar’s Library or Scholar’s Library Gold). Such programs are rightfully becoming an essential part of any preacher’s (or scholar’s) tool kit.” (More…)

The journal is primarily by and for homiletics professors (I guess that would make them “preacher teachers”?) at seminaries and Bible colleges across North America. It’s also read by pastors, evangelists, and others with an interest in preaching.

The author of this review is Dr. Roy Ciampa, Ph.D., associate professor of NT and director of the Th.M. program in biblical studies at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary.

This is the first of many reviews that will appear in print over the coming months. I find it interesting that each one adds another dimension to the evaluation of the product and each reveals a different perspective on what’s important in a Bible software package and to whom it’s important. With a diverse user base and a large, multi-faceted product this makes sense.

If you’ve never seen our software review archive, check it out…chances are good that your denominational publication or favorite journal or magazine has reviewed Logos Bible Software and you can get their perspective on it.

One feature request that we’ve had a lot in the past 10 years or so runs something like this:

So, I have this Greek word. I want to know all the ways it is translated in the New Testament. How do I do that?

Another similar question is frequently asked as well:

What are the different Greek words that get translated as this English word in the New Testament?

We couldn’t always answer these questions before. In some ways, we could use Strong’s numbers as a bridge, but it wasn’t one-click easy to search the text to answer these sorts of questions.
With Reverse Interlinears, answering these questions is quick, easy, and elegant.

You’re using Logos 3 and hadn’t realized this yet? That’s OK, there is a lot of new stuff in Logos 3.
I figured I’d make a video to run you through how to use Reverse Interlinears to start to answer these questions as you study the Bible.

Of course, this feature is only as cool as the content that is delivered…and we’re delivering some pretty cool content, indeed.

Every day of the week (except Sunday), you will see at least one new blog post at the bottom of your Logos Bible Software homepage. Posts are pulled from either the Logos Bible Software Blog (you’re reading that right now) or from a brand new blog that offers tips and tricks for getting the most out of your Logos software!

Morris Proctor’s Tips & Tricks Blog
Every Wednesday and Saturday, that new blog, called Morris Proctor’s Tips & Tricks, provides a new tip for maximizing your efficiency and skill in using Logos Bible Software 3.

Morris Proctor, authorized trainer for Logos Bible Software, writes all the posts for the Tips & Tricks blog. Morris runs the informative, top-notch Camp Logos seminars all around the country but found time in his schedule to author these free tips which will help you get the most out of your investment in Logos Bible Software.

If you enjoy the biweekly Tips, be sure to check out the calendar of upcoming Camp Logos training events and register to attend the one nearest you! I attended Camp Logos a few months after starting at Logos in 2002 and it was time well spent—I give it the highest possible recommendation.

How to Read Blogs in Logos Bible Software
To read the latest posts from the Tips & Tricks Blog and Logos Blog, just open Logos Bible Software 3 (What, you haven’t already upgraded?) and scroll down the homepage until you see the “Blogs” section header. Below that you will see previews of the three most recent posts from the Logos Blog and three from the Tips & Tricks blog.

If this section is not already expanded, click on the word “Blogs” or the triangle to expand it.

If you don’t see the Blogs section header at all, scroll back up to the top of the Logos Bible Software homepage, click Customize View (located just below the date), then scroll down and make sure all the checkboxes under Blogs are checked. Save Changes and you should now see the Blogs section on the homepage.

Be sure to scroll down the homepage every time you fire up the software, to read the latest tips and news from and about Logos Bible Software! And be sure to thank Morris when you see him at a Camp Logos.